Sri Lanka in 2000 completed its 17th year of civil war with no end in sight. Efforts to end the independence struggle of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), either through force of arms or through negotiation and constitutional reform, proved unsuccessful. At the front of the conflict in northern Sri Lanka, the army suffered a severe setback in April when its major camp at Elephant Pass fell to the rebels with heavy losses. Although military morale was badly shaken, later counteroffensives succeeded in retaking much of the lost ground. Meanwhile, following the attempted assassination of Pres. Chandrika Kumaratunga in December 1999, a series of shootings, suicide bombs, and letter bombs terrorized the southern part of the nation, killing government ministers, parliamentary candidates, innocent civilians, and often the bombers themselves.

In an attempt to placate the disaffected Tamil and Muslim communities and undercut support for the LTTE, President Kumaratunga’s People’s Alliance (PA) government put forward a constitutional reform bill that would have established substantially autonomous regional councils. The support of the opposition United National Party (UNP) was essential, since the government lacked the two-thirds majority needed to amend the constitution. This support was initially pledged, but after repeated protests by Buddhist clergy and other Sinhalese groups, it was withdrawn. The constitutional reform measure failed in an August parliamentary vote. A general election was then called in an effort by the PA to obtain the necessary two-thirds majority. Held in October amid considerable violence, the election weakened the PA slightly in Parliament while not greatly strengthening the UNP. President Kumaratunga was able to form a new coalition government, but it was no stronger than her previous one and left the proposed constitutional reform many votes short of approval. On October 19, as President Kumaratunga was swearing in her new cabinet, an LTTE suicide bomber shot down a helicopter gunship over Colombo. On election day Sirimavo Bandaranaike, the president’s mother and until recently prime minister of Sri Lanka, died. (SeeObituaries.) At year’s end, the LTTE seemed more willing to negotiate with the government, but a new effort by Norway to help get talks started was blocked by the inability of the two sides to agree on preconditions.

The Sri Lankan economy grew at about 5% in 2000 despite worsening fiscal and balance of payments deficits. The prevailing insecurity discouraged private investment and forced the government to postpone its privatization program for lack of buyer interest.